Please join Temple Beth Sholom on Friday, March 28 at 7 p.m. for a special evening as Cantor Robbie Solomon will lead our Kabbalat Shabbat service. You will not want to miss this event! Solomon, an esteemed and internationally recognized composer, has made significant contributions to Jewish choral works, synagogue repertoire, and compositions that articulate the Jewish-American experience.

His stirring anthem, “Leaving Mother Russia,” written in 1978, became a powerful rallying cry for the Soviet Jewry movement, firmly establishing him as a musical interpreter of Jewish social conscience. Since then, he has composed numerous influential pieces, including “World of Our Fathers,” “Falasha Nevermore,” “Peace by Piece,” and “Grandfather’s Train,” performed with the renowned Jewish music group SAFAM for which he sings, composes, arranges, and plays multiple instruments. In addition to more than 10 original CDs, Solomon’s works have been performed and recorded by numerous cantors and choirs throughout the world.

Born in Baltimore, he was raised in a family deeply rooted in Judaism. From ages 10-13, he served as the boy soloist for the High Holidays at the Denmore Avenue schul, Petach Tikvah, immersing himself in the liturgy and melodies of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, many of which he still uses in leading services today.

In addition to his Orthodox upbringing, and after receiving a bachelor of science from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania and a bachelor of Hebrew letters from the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati and Jerusalem, Solomon received conservatory training at the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem, Berklee College of Music, and New England Conservatory in Boston. He holds certification from both the Reform and Conservative movements, American Conference of Cantors and Cantors Assembly.

Solomon served the Jewish community as a cantor for more than 40 years, predominantly in Greater Boston, where he was the cantor of Temple Sinai in Sharon, Temple Ohabei Shalom, in Brookline, and Temple Isaiah in Lexington. Solomon was president of the New England Jewish Ministers Cantors from 1998-2002 and served on the board of the American Conference of Cantors from 2010 to 2012.

Now retired as cantor emeritus from Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, he lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Helen. They are members of Temple Beth Sholom.

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